In Awe
by Saunders2
Summary: Astrid has a hard time trusting, so why was it so easy for her to trust him? HICCSTRID (Set in HTTYD 1) Please, please, please read. I know it looks like it sucks, but give it chance. It's better than it seems!


**My first time _ever _of writing for Hiccstrid. So, please I want feedback. I really hope I didn't ruin Astrid too badly, I really did try to capture her attitude into this as much as I could**

**-Quick Hiccstrid Shot, Astrid POV HTTYD 1, from Astrid running after discovering Toothless to cove scene (kiss).**

**-Please review, and no flames.**

**-Disclaimer: Nope. I wish I did, but I think I can live by binge watching them over and over on repeat.**

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She still wasn't sure whether it was fear or the respect coursing through her that made her question her judgement in running. But questioning herself wouldn't get her any farther away from the terrifying dragon and she rushed towards home as fast as she could. Something, like a whirl of wind, hit her back and pushed her forward. She nearly tumbled as she climbed swiftly over a fallen tree, but something wrapped around her shoulders and dug into her chest and she was pulled from the ground. Screaming bloody murder, Astrid thrashed, glaring up at the brown-haired boy as the frightening monster landed in a tree. The dragon had dropped her on a branch and as she struggled to keep herself from falling to her ultimate death, she screamed, at the top of her lungs, "Hiccup! Get me _down_ from here!"

"You have to give me a chance to explain," the brown-haired boy implored. His hands made gestures as he looked down at her on top of the beast. How he got up there without dying, she'll probably never know as she can feel her hands slipping from the thin branch. She struggles to find her grip as she spits out, "I'm not listening to _anything_ you have to say."

Slowly, she began to use her training to get her to the trunk by sliding one hand closer and the other following behind it. She'd done plenty of these drills, this shouldn't be so hard. However, then she knew she wouldn't die if she fell. Now, she knew there was no avoiding such a fate if she let go.

"Then I won't speak," Hiccup's voice went soft as his eyes plead with her to trust him, speckles of brown and blue in his clear eyes glinting in the light of the moon. "Just let me show you." Astrid groaned as she attempted to heave herself onto the branch. "Please Astrid."

The blonde girl looked up at him, her heartbeat going erratic when she meet his gaze. _When did I become such a softie?_ she growled at herself. Slowly, she pulled herself onto the branch. As she climbed on, Hiccup reached his hand out to help her up onto the leather saddle on which he was perched. Still angry with both the traitor and herself, and scared of what the dragon would do to her if she held his hand, she swatted it away. Glaring at him, she touched the dragon's scales, but the black beast growled lowly in warning. She snapped her hand back before touching the leather saddle and heaved herself up behind the boy, praying to the gods that she wouldn't die tonight.

"Get me down," Astrid barked, her hands out to balance herself as she stared at the ground so many feet below her. There was no way she would survive falling from this height, but a small part of her whispered, _Hiccup wouldn't let you fall._

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she heard Hiccup say to the monster, "Toothless, down. _Gently_." How he was communicating with the dragon was beyond her, and the fact that the creature would be able to understand made her scoff. The dragon, "Toothless", spread his wings and the boy turned around with a reassuring smile on his face.

"See?" he said brightly, as if the simple fact that they were hundreds of feet in the air on top of a _dragon_ was completely, one-hundred percent okay. "Nothing to be afraid of."

Just as she was about to retort, the beast took off. Hiccup let out a surprised yell and snapped around as the two of them shot into the sky. Astrid began to fear for her life as she felt herself slipping, _falling, _from the saddle and she began to scream. Her legs waved around in the air wildly as her arms struggled to sit her back up.

_You're going to die_, a part of her laughed. _You're going to die and no one will know what became of you. _Above her screams, she could faintly hear Hiccup scolding and questioning the beast on which she had entrusted her life to as soon as she swung her leg over his back.

Suddenly, the dragon leveled out and Astrid grabbed Hiccup's shoulders tightly, nails digging into his shirt and skin. Fear made her hold tight as Hiccup attempted to reassure her. It did no such thing.

The dragon began to tilt, making it so that the wind and water came rushing towards their heads and Astrid began to scream once more. How much screaming would she be doing today? She wasn't usually a screamer; she was fairly strategic. But the situation seemed to pull the ear-piercing siren calls from her throat as they continued to fall towards the water. Once more, the dragon turned back around and dived into the water. But just as soon as they had entered, the came out. Only to plunge back in again.

Astrid kept herself glued to Hiccup, fear and nausea and maybe a hundred other different things making her want to scream. And she did so, as Hiccup scolded the dragon.

"What are you doing? We need her to like us!" the dragon didn't seem to care as Astrid clung desperately to Hiccup. He shot towards the sky once more, and then began to spin. Hiccup seemed to become a narrator as he sarcastically droned out-

"And now for the spinning," Astrid whimpered, holding her face to Hiccup's back as fear clawed at her. And another emotion- regret and want to forgive. "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."

The thought clicked in her brain, and she moved her mouth to where she could speak with only hurling wind to muffle her voice and closed her eyes, her temple pressed to Hiccup's back and her arms wrapped securely around his waist. "Okay!" she said, "I'm sorry. I'm _sorry._ Just get me off this thing."

With her eyes closed tight and her face away from Hiccup, she couldn't see his bewildered expression, nor the dragon's look of appreciation and forgiveness.

Suddenly, as they plummeted back to earth, the dragon spread his wings and the ride and wind calmed. A cold mist brushed her arm, and she could feel Hiccup's cheek press against the back of her head. She stayed frozen, for some reason not wanting him to move. But he did shift and she slowly opened her eyes to see what had happened.

Pale pink's and orange's filled the expense around her; wispy clouds embraced her in their dewy wet and she felt shivers shoot down her spine, but they were more from pleasure than cold. She stared at the beauty around her in wonder, barely registering the fact that Hiccup had looked back and smiled happily at her expression. It was like a whole new world, and she was amazed at the beauty she'd never seen before. She was entranced by it, the soft warm feeling in her stomach never going away.

As they neared a cloud, she looked back at Hiccup before she raised her hand to feel the substance. It was cold and it felt wet to the touch, but it also sent shocks down her arm, and she enjoyed the rush. She couldn't hold back and both of her hands were up in the air, the tingles going through both arms. She closed her eyes and leaned back slightly, finally completely relaxing on the dragon's back.

She finally pulled her arms away as the dragon- _Toothless_, her brain reminded her- began to fly up again. They flew through the clouds until they were atop them and she gasped at the sight before her.

Dark blue sky and glittering lights, green, light blue, white and purple hues flitting through the sky. The wind rushed through her hair, leaving a chilled feeling on her nose and lips and cheeks.

Below them, the clouds opened and Berk appeared, so very small below them. A glowing fire burned and glowed warmly up at them- This was amazing.

A smile tugged at her lips and she couldn't hold it back. She slowly slipped her arms back around the boy's waist before her and she settled her chin on his shoulder, a content sigh escaping her lips as she closed her eyes and leaned against him. This was so blissful, so- so- so _perfect._

She felt Hiccup turn his head slightly, but she didn't see his curious and slightly surprised expression as she cuddled up to him. His breath fanned along her cheek, ever so slightly and left them warm. His mouth being _that_ close to her cheek made her heart beat faster and butterflies to begin to flutter in her stomach. It was something she wasn't used to, but it was also something that made her want to be near the boy even more.

The dragon- _Toothless_ lowered them slowly until they were maybe a hundred feet from the ocean waves. He slowly weaved his way through the tall pillars of old warriors, hearth fires crackling and glowing brightly from within them. Once again, they were lifted into the sky and Astrid felt the wind ripple through the rider's hair and hers, Hiccup's tickling her cheek and the nape of her neck. She opened her eyes and looked around the darkened island and diamond covered sky in a slight daze of wonder and fascination. The smile on her lips pulled wider and she slowly pulled away from Hiccup, but immediately missed his warmth pressed against her.

Softly, Astrid said, "Okay, I admit it. This is pretty cool." she didn't see the small, smug smile appear on the boy's face as she continued to praise the beauty around her. "It's amazing," she looked over the boy's shoulder to smile approvingly at _Toothless. _"_He's_ amazing."

Carefully, Astrid reached down and stroked Toothless' neck. He glanced at her, and the look he gave her was one of trust and happiness. She smiled back at him and petted him once more before pulling back to the safer position.

_Safer_. The word rang in her ear and it snapped to a memory. She didn't want to break the sweet ignorance that surrounded her, but she knew she would have to ask it.

"So what now?" she whispered tentatively. She saw Hiccup bunch his shoulders and she leaned closer to him, allowing herself to be able to move her head over his shoulder and look at his face. He wouldn't meet her gaze. "Hiccup, your final exam is _tomorrow,_" she stressed the word, before she continued, "You know you're gonna have to kill a-" a quick glance at Toothless, and her voice went down a few notches, and she moved her mouth to his ear- "_kill a dragon._"

"Don't remind me," the bothered boy grumbled. Neither noticed Toothless' sudden searching, his head looking from left to right as if looking for something and they both yelped as Toothless suddenly changed direction.

"Toothless, what's happening?" Hiccup questioned, attention on Toothless as the dragon tried to navigate himself through a heavy fog. "What's going on bud?"

Hiccup gasped, before telling Astrid to get down when a large Monstrous Nightmare flew out of the fog. In its hands was a large animal- a kill.

Astrid looked left and right, unsure what was going on as dragon after dragon came out of the fog, all heading in the same direction as them. From what it looked like, not even Hiccup knew what was going on. Dragons appeared left and right, front and back and- from what Astrid concluded- they were all caring kill. As stupid as the question was, she _had_ to know.

"What's going on?" Astrid whispered quietly to Hiccup.

"I don't know," he responded before he returned his attention to the dragon. "Toothless, you gotta get us out of here."

The dragon shook his head and stayed in the fog with the flying beasts.

"It looks like they're hauling in their kill," Hiccup observed. Astrid rolled her eyes at this statement, already having guessed at that. But, Hiccup having said it aloud, it sent warning signals to her brain and fear began to creep into her mind.

Wide eyed, the blonde asked, "Uhh, what does that make us?"

Astrid tried to shove the fear away, but it was already set in her mind. So when Toothless began a straight plummet towards the water, a quiet whimper escaped her and she wrapped her arms around Hiccup a little tighter. Around tall rock structures and over large, deadly things that shot out of the seas like spikes, Toothless continued to follow the huge thing of dragons towards a large mountain- a volcano. The closer they got, the more afraid Astrid felt and she pressed herself against Hiccup. It relaxed her somewhat, to know she had someone here.

They entered the dark cave, and that was it. Both Astrid and Hiccup screamed as they could no longer see and they both _despised_ having that sense ripped from them- but it wasn't gone for very long.

Before them, warm, red light flooded through and a sweltering heat followed it. Toothless flew over the hot, boiling pit of lava and Astrid peeked cautiously over Hiccup's shoulder as the boy whispered in faint awe and fear, "What my dad wouldn't give to find this."

Quickly, as soon as they were over half-way, Toothless made a quick U-turn in the air and flew to a large, tall rock foundation. It rose high above the boiling magma and they landed on a ledge, hiding themselves from most of the crowd of dragons. Both dragon and riders looked past their hiding spot and watched as all the dragons' kills went down into the lava. Hiccup decided then was time to make a sarcastic remark.

"Oh, it's satisfying to know that all of our food is being dumped down a hole."

"They're not eating any of it," Astrid replied in confusion, also watching the dragons' strange behaviour.

Slowly and loudly, a large Gronkle came flying in. It stopped directly over the red hot, steaming hole and opened its mouth, a small fish falling off its tongue and into the hole. Astrid was repulsed by this action, but continued to watch as the Gronkle began to scratch behind its ear. Suddenly, a loud growl shook the cavern and all the dragons back away from the abyss. The Gronkle whined before beginning to move away from atop the whole.

Out of the red abyss, a huge dragon head appeared and it snapped up the lazy Gronkle. All dragons backed even further away from the hole as Astrid questioned her sanity. "What is that?" she whispered fearfully to Hiccup.

The enormous dragon head grunted and Hiccup whispered to Toothless, "Okay bud, we gotta get out of here."

Toothless nodded, and, as if the larger dragon had sensed it, it snapped towards their hiding spot.

"Now!" Hiccup cried in earnest. Toothless sprung as the dragon head attempted to snap them up, too.

All the dragons began to fly in a circling mass to the hole at the top of the volcano. The larger dragon chased after them and snapped its huge jaws, but catching a Zippleback instead of the Night Fury it had been aiming for. Slowly, the dragon nestled back into the volcano and all the dragons left.

The trip back was a wild one, neither still completely comprehending the situation but Astrid was working it over in mind at top speed.

When they landed back in the cove, Astrid was getting ready to jump off of Toothless, eager to explain her theory to Stoick the Vast.

"It's like a giant beehive!" she exclaimed to Hiccup as Toothless settled back on the ground. "They're the workers and that's their queen- she controls them. Come on, let's go find your dad." She jumped and began to run for Berk.

Quickly, Hiccup followed. He grabbed Astrid's shoulder and spun her around. Once he got her attention, he began to speak fast as not to lose it. When she was focused, she tended to forget about anything that wasn't her goal. "No, not yet," Hiccup said. "They'll kill Toothless- no, Astrid, we've got to think this through- _carefully._"

Astrid looked at Hiccup and saw it in his eyes- he cared deeply for the dragon, and after the night she just had, she could see why.

But this was also something slightly bigger than a single reptile.

"Hiccup, we just discovered the dragon's _nest_. The thing we've been after since vikings first sailed here!" she was talking to his back now, but she kept going, hoping for him to see where she was getting at. "And you want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragon? Are you serious?"

Yes, she had just put down Toothless, put she _had_ to get her point across.

Slowly, Hiccup turned to face her and she was slightly awed by the set look on his face, the expression filled with determination. "Yes." he answered solemnly.

The blonde's face relaxed into awe and understanding. This boy truly was something else.

Hiccup turned away from Astrid as she whispered, "Okay. Then what do we do?"

"Just give me until tomorrow," he said, only turning his face to see her. The rest of his body was still angled away. "I'll figure something out."

Astrid let the matter go, and let her mind wander to a "thank-you" for tonight's events. Slowly, an idea came to her head and butterflies rioted viciously in her stomach.

"Okay," she started, looking at the ground as the boy fiddled with his belt. She punched his arm, hard, and he gasped. Turning to look at her in bewilderment, rubbing his bruising arm, Astrid continued, "That's for kidnapping me."

Hiccup shook his head at her, not exactly getting what she was doing. Toothless behind him snorted and he turned to look at the dragon. Slowly, as his head was turned, Astrid pulled on her strength and tried to tie together her courage to do this. She missed the small exchange, only catching the grunt from Toothless in the end as she built up her will power.

The boy turned back to her and Astrid pulled herself together. Brushing her bangs back, the girl swiftly grabbed the clueless boy's shirt and leaned in herself, giving him a quick kiss.

She muttered, "And that's for everything else," the fluttering feeling in her stomach intensifying and her mouth tingling. She pulled her hand away from Hiccup and towards her chest, and then she turned away from him and booked it out of there as if it had been this afternoon. Except this time, she wasn't running from a dragon- she was running from embarrassment.

That didn't mean, that when she got home and snuck up to her loft, that she didn't giggle like a little girl giddy over treats. Yes, she was very proud of herself. But the thoughts of a certain green-eyed boy with messy brown hair and a friendly Night Fury made her fall asleep soundly, butterflies in her stomach and a soft tingling to her lips.


End file.
